South Taranaki District councillors are proposing to increase their number by one following Wednesday’s (4 August) Representation Review extraordinary meeting.

After more than a month of pre-consultation, the Councillors agreed to formally consult on an Initial Proposal consisting of 13 Councillors and a mayor, with no change to the Community Boards.

Under the proposal the Council would be made up of two Māori wards with one councillor elected from each ward and four general wards with two councillors elected from the Eltham-Kaponga ward; two from the Pātea ward; two from the Taranaki Coastal ward; and five councillors from Te Hāwera ward.

Council had previously agreed on a slightly different proposal at an earlier representation meeting held on 24 July, however it was decided to re-consider this proposal after the Council obtained updated (2020) population figures from Statistics New Zealand and the compliance variation thresholds presented at the first meeting didn’t satisfy the Local Electoral Act 2001.

All councils are required to review their representation every 6 years and Council’s decision in November 2020 to establish a Māori ward/s triggered the need for a review.

The Representation Review establishes how South Taranaki communities will be represented for the 2022 and 2025 local body elections. It considers things such as the number of councillors needed to represent the District, whether they're elected from wards or ‘at large’ across the whole district, or a mix of both and whether community boards should be retained or not.

Formal consultation on the Council’s Initial Proposal starts on 12 August and runs through to 23 September.

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